By Stella Odueme
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has advocated the deployment of integrated digital solutions to expand agricultural extension services and ensure that Nigerian farmers have access to timely and dependable agricultural information.
The Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, made the call at the 2026 Africa Agribusiness Extension Summit (AAES), organised by Extension Africa in partnership with NITDA in Abuja.
Inuwa, who was represented by the Director of e-Government, Engr. Salisu Kaka, said the growing number of farmers in Nigeria made it necessary to complement traditional face-to-face extension services with technology-driven approaches.
According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Media Relations, Hadiza Umar, he said emerging technologies, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), could help bridge the gap between farmers and extension professionals by providing access to advisory services irrespective of geographical location.
According to him, Nigeria needs an interconnected digital ecosystem for agricultural extension rather than a proliferation of standalone platforms.
He identified interoperability, scalability, security and access to reliable data as critical elements required to build sustainable digital agricultural services.
Inuwa also pointed to the potential of AI to analyse agricultural trends, generate recommendations and strengthen early-warning mechanisms, enabling farmers to respond more effectively to emerging agricultural threats.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, also called for increased investment in digital agricultural extension services as part of efforts to modernise agriculture, raise productivity and enhance food security.
Kyari observed that Nigeria's conventional extension system had weakened over the years, resulting in a significant increase in the number of farmers served by individual extension agents.
He therefore urged stakeholders to develop digital platforms capable of delivering weather alerts, market information, crop disease advisories and other critical agricultural information through mobile phones and other accessible channels.
The minister stressed that technology must be designed around the realities of farmers and used to complement, rather than completely replace, conventional extension services.
He further called on state governments to increase investment in agricultural extension, while encouraging greater participation of young people and deliberate efforts to ensure that women farmers are adequately reached.
Kyari said raising the productivity of millions of farmers would be essential to meeting Nigeria's growing food requirements, adding that improved access to knowledge and advisory services would strengthen farmers' livelihoods and contribute to national food security.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer of Extension Africa, Tajudeen Yahaya, said the organisation was established to address weaknesses in Africa's agricultural extension system and improve last-mile advisory services.
Yahaya identified people, data, technology and partnerships as the major pillars needed to develop a more effective extension system.
He called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, private-sector organisations, development partners and technology companies to tackle fragmentation within the agricultural extension sector.
According to him, Extension Africa, established in 2021, has expanded to about 7,000 extension workers operating across 16 states and has reached more than one million farmers.
He said the 2026 summit was designed to establish measurable benchmarks and practical strategies for strengthening Nigeria's agricultural extension system through enhanced human capacity, quality data, technology and sustainable partnerships.